Excitement and Exhaustion

Excitement! (And Exhaustion.)

Yes, there's always a lot of excitement-- and yes, even exhaustion-- around here on a constant basis.

New House

In case I haven't mentioned it, we moved to a new house in the middle of June. It is quite literally a HUGE blessing. I have friends I've known for years who have lived in this neighborhood and in the same house plan, and I still pinch myself to think that OUR FAMILY gets to live in a home as big and beautiful as this one. It even has a BASEMENT, which is rare and hard to find here in AZ. (They dig pools, but not basements... It's a mystery I've never been able to understand about this place.)

It's a six bedroom, 3 bathroom home, complete with a food storage room, a BIG basement family room, and a garage. Our back yard is small, but with so much room inside, that hasn't been an issue. There's a park down the street, lots of tree-lined biking paths, and even a couple community pools. We already know several people in the ward who are part of our homeschool group, and we hold our weekly homeschool group classes in our new house, as well as in a few other friends' homes on the same block.

Yeah, we are sacrificing more money each month to live here, but I feel so blessed! We still really miss our friends and ward family in Chandler-- that still feels like our "real" home-- but we're settling in here and are enjoying the indoor space we now have.

Birthdays

July, August, and September are full of birthdays and craziness. We've had a bit of breathing room the last few weeks before our baby turns one in the middle of October. Now I can post some birthday pictures!

Brennan is now legal!

Ronan, in his new racecar-driver suit,
 made courtesy of Morganne and Granna

My handsome husband:
We celebrated our 21st anniversary in mid-August!

Lliam has been working out, and I think he likes his new weight set!

                                 

I am now in my last year before the big 4-0!
(Playing with a 1940's hair-do)

Our Bonny got one BIG present for her 15th birthday, and she loves it!

Excitement and Exhaustion

Last, but not least, I got a BIG surprise in August. I never thought I would have the blessing of bearing a dozen beautiful, healthy children, but now it seems I get to be blessed even more...

We are now expecting a new little one-- our number 13-- sometime near the end of April. My guess is that it's another little girl, but we shall see! 

I am humbled... and tired... and excited! What a blessing it is to be a Mother in Zion!!! I am amazed at how much love and trust the Lord has given me. I obviously still have MUCH more to learn! I will do my best to be the mother my Father in Heaven wants me to be.

But first, I will probably take a much-needed nap...

Love, Mama Rachel